Pdsch processing in presence of downlink preemption indication

ABSTRACT

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) processing in presence of downlink preemption indication (DLPI). A method for wireless communication by a base station (BS) includes determining a feedback timing indicator associated with a PDSCH transmission to a user equipment (UE) in a first slot. The determination is based on a first number of slots from the first slot until transmission of a DLPI to the UE in a second slot and a second number slots for a minimum processing time associated with the UE. The method includes sending downlink control information (DCI) to the UE scheduling the PDSCH transmission to the UE in the first slot. The DCI includes the feedback timing indicator. The UE determines how to process the PDSCH based on the feedback timing indicator.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/656,740, filed Apr. 12, 2018, hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety as if fully set forth belowand for all applicable purposes.

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, andmore particularly, to techniques for physical downlink shared channel(PDSCH) processing in presence of downlink preemption indication (DLPI).

Description of Related Art

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustelecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging,broadcasts, etc. These wireless communication systems may employmultiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication withmultiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth,transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple-access systems include3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE)systems, LTE Advanced (LTE-A) systems, code division multiple access(CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency divisionmultiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous codedivision multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, to name a few.

In some examples, a wireless multiple-access communication system mayinclude a number of base stations (BSs), which are each capable ofsimultaneously supporting communication for multiple communicationdevices, otherwise known as user equipments (UEs). In an LTE or LTE-Anetwork, a set of one or more base stations may define an eNodeB (eNB).In other examples (e.g., in a next generation, a new radio (NR), or 5Gnetwork), a wireless multiple access communication system may include anumber of distributed units (DUs) (e.g., edge units (EUs), edge nodes(ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio heads (SRHs), transmissionreception points (TRPs), etc.) in communication with a number of centralunits (CUs) (e.g., central nodes (CNs), access node controllers (ANCs),etc.), where a set of one or more DUs, in communication with a CU, maydefine an access node (e.g., which may be referred to as a BS, 5G NB,next generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), transmission reception point(TRP), etc.). A BS or DU may communicate with a set of UEs on downlinkchannels (e.g., for transmissions from a BS or DU to a UE) and uplinkchannels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to BS or DU).

These multiple access technologies have been adopted in varioustelecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enablesdifferent wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national,regional, and even global level. NR (e.g., new radio or 5G) is anexample of an emerging telecommunication standard. NR is a set ofenhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by 3GPP. NR isdesigned to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improvingspectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use ofnew spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards usingOFDMA with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL) and on the uplink(UL). To these ends, NR supports beamforming, multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues toincrease, there exists a need for further improvements in NR and LTEtechnology. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to othermulti-access technologies and the telecommunication standards thatemploy these technologies.

SUMMARY

The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have severalaspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirableattributes. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure as expressedby the claims which follow, some features will now be discussed briefly.After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading thesection entitled “Detailed Description” one will understand how thefeatures of this disclosure provide advantages that include improvedcommunications between access points and stations in a wireless network.

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, andmore particularly, to techniques for physical downlink shared channel(PDSCH) processing in presence of downlink preemption indication (DLPI).

Certain aspects provide a method for wireless communication by a basestation (BS). The method generally includes determining a feedbacktiming indicator associated with a PDSCH transmission to a userequipment (UE) in a first slot. The determination is based on a firstnumber of slots from the first slot until transmission of a DLPI to theUE in a second slot and a second number slots for a minimum processingtime associated with the UE. The method includes sending the timingfeedback indicator to the UE in downlink control information (DCI)scheduling the PDSCH transmission.

Certain aspects provide a method for wireless communication by a UE. Themethod generally includes receiving DCI scheduling a PDSCH transmissionin a first slot. The DCI includes a feedback timing indicator associatedwith the scheduled PDSCH transmission. The method includes receiving thePDSCH transmission in the first slot. The method includes determininghow to process the PDSCH transmission based on the feedback timingindicator. The method includes processing the PDSCH transmission basedon the determination.

Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. Theapparatus generally includes means for determining a feedback timingindicator associated with a PDSCH transmission to another apparatus in afirst slot. The determination is based on a first number of slots fromthe first slot until transmission of a DLPI to the another apparatus ina second slot and a second number slots for a minimum processing timeassociated with the another apparatus. The apparatus includes means forsending the timing feedback indicator to the another apparatus in DCIscheduling the PDSCH transmission.

Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. Theapparatus generally includes means for receiving DCI scheduling a PDSCHtransmission in a first slot. The DCI includes a feedback timingindicator associated with the scheduled PDSCH transmission. Theapparatus includes means for receiving the PDSCH transmission in thefirst slot. The apparatus includes means for determining how to processthe PDSCH transmission based on the feedback timing indicator. Theapparatus includes means for processing the PDSCH transmission based onthe determination.

Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. Theapparatus generally includes at least one processor configured todetermine a feedback timing indicator associated with a PDSCHtransmission to another apparatus in a first slot. The determination isbased on a first number of slots from the first slot until transmissionof a DLPI to the another apparatus in a second slot and a second numberslots for a minimum processing time associated with the anotherapparatus. The at least one processor is configured to send the timingfeedback indicator to the another apparatus in DCI scheduling the PDSCHtransmission. The apparatus includes a memory coupled with the at leastone processor.

Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. Theapparatus generally includes at least one processor configured toreceive DCI scheduling a PDSCH transmission in a first slot. The DCIincludes a feedback timing indicator associated with the scheduled PDSCHtransmission. The at least one processor is further configured toreceive the PDSCH transmission in the first slot. The at least oneprocessor is configured to determine how to process the PDSCHtransmission based on the feedback timing indicator. The at least oneprocessor is configured to process the PDSCH transmission based on thedetermination. The apparatus includes a memory coupled with the at leastone processor.

Certain aspects provide a computer readable medium having computerexecutable code stored thereon for wireless communication. The computerreadable medium generally includes code for determining a feedbacktiming indicator associated with a PDSCH transmission to anotherapparatus in a first slot. The determination is based on a first numberof slots from the first slot until transmission of a DLPI to the anotherapparatus in a second slot and a second number slots for a minimumprocessing time associated with the another apparatus. The computerreadable medium includes code for sending the timing feedback indicatorto the another apparatus in DCI scheduling the PDSCH transmission.

Certain aspects provide a computer readable medium for wirelesscommunication. The computer readable medium generally includes code forreceiving DCI scheduling a PDSCH transmission in a first slot. The DCIincludes a feedback timing indicator associated with the scheduled PDSCHtransmission. The computer readable medium includes code for receivingthe PDSCH transmission in the first slot. The computer readable mediumincludes code for determining how to process the PDSCH transmissionbased on the feedback timing indicator. The computer readable mediumincludes code for processing the PDSCH transmission based on thedetermination.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe appended drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description,briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some ofwhich are illustrated in the drawings. It is to be noted, however, thatthe appended drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of thisdisclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope,for the description may admit to other equally effective aspects.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an exampletelecommunications system, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example architecture of adistributed radio access network (RAN), in accordance with certainaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing examples for implementing acommunication protocol stack in the example RAN architecture, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a design of anexample base station (BS) and user equipment (UE), in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example system architecture for interworkingbetween a 5G System (5GS) and an evolved universal mobiletelecommunication system network (E-UTRAN) system, in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a frame format for a telecommunicationsystem, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an example transmission and processing timeline for physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH), in accordance with certain aspects ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is an example transmission timeline showing transmission ofdownlink preemption indication (DLPI) for enhanced mobile broadband(eMBB) PDSCH transmissions preempted by a ultra-reliable low-latencycommunication (URLLC) PDSCH, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9 is an example transmission and processing timeline showingtransmission of DLPI for eMBB PDSCH transmissions preempted by URLLCPDSCH.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram showing example operations for wirelesscommunications by a BS, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 11 is an example transmission and processing timeline showingtransmission of DLPI for eMBB PDSCH transmissions preempted by URLLCPDSCH, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram showing example operations for wirelesscommunications by a UE, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 13 is an example call flow showing PDSCH processing taking DLPIinto account for a sufficient timing feedback indicator value, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is an example call flow showing PDSCH processing without takingDLPI into account for an insufficient timing feedback indicator value,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is an example call flow showing error declaration for aninsufficient timing feedback indicator value, in accordance with certainaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 illustrates a communications device that may include variouscomponents configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosedherein in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates a communications device that may include variouscomponents configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosedherein in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspectmay be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specificrecitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processingsystems, and computer readable mediums for physical downlink sharedchannel (PDSCH) processing in presence of downlink preemption indication(DLPI).

In certain systems, such as NR (new radio or 5G) systems, a scheduledphysical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission may be preemptedby another PDSCH transmission. For example, NR supports a variety ofservices including enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) service andultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) service. An eMBB PDSCHtransmission to a user equipment (UE) may be preempted by a URLLC PDSCHtransmission to the UE or another UE. A base station (BS) provides adownlink preemption indicator (DLPI) to the UE, indicating the preemptedresources, to improve decoding performance at the UE, for example.

When the BS schedules a PDSCH transmission, the BS sends a feedbacktiming indicator indicating when the UE should provide feedback, such ashybrid automatic repeat request (HARD) feedback, for the scheduled PDSCHtransmission. If the UE waits, after receiving the scheduled PDSCH, toaccount for the DLPI in processing the received PDSCH, then the UE mayhave insufficient time to complete the processing before the indicatedfeedback timing. Therefore, techniques for PDSCH processing in thepresence of the DLPI are desirable.

The following description provides examples, and is not limiting of thescope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes maybe made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit,substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. Forinstance, the methods described may be performed in an order differentfrom that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, orcombined. Also, features described with respect to some examples may becombined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may beimplemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspectsset forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intendedto cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to,or other than, the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein.It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosedherein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim. The word“exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, orillustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otheraspects.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication technologies, such as LTE, CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA,SC-FDMA and other networks. The terms “network” and “system” are oftenused interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technologysuch as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRAincludes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implementa radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications(GSM). An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as NR(e.g. 5G RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRAand E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS).

New Radio (NR) is an emerging wireless communications technology underdevelopment in conjunction with the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF). 3GPPLong Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are releases of UMTSthat use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described indocuments from an organization named “3rd Generation PartnershipProject” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from anorganization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). Thetechniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks andradio technologies mentioned above as well as other wireless networksand radio technologies. For clarity, while aspects may be describedherein using terminology commonly associated with 3G and/or 4G wirelesstechnologies, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied in othergeneration-based communication systems, such as 5G and later, includingNR technologies.

New radio (NR) access (e.g., 5G technology) may support various wirelesscommunication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)targeting wide bandwidth (e.g., 80 MHz or beyond), millimeter wave (mmW)targeting high carrier frequency (e.g., 25 GHz or beyond), massivemachine type communications MTC (mMTC) targeting non-backward compatibleMTC techniques, and/or mission critical targeting ultra-reliablelow-latency communications (URLLC). These services may include latencyand reliability requirements. These services may also have differenttransmission time intervals (TTI) to meet respective quality of service(QoS) requirements. In addition, these services may co-exist in the samesubframe.

Example Wireless Communications System

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network 100 inwhich aspects of the present disclosure may be performed. For example,the wireless communication network 100 may be a New Radio (NR) or 5Gnetwork. The wireless communication network 100 may support enhancedmobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable low-latency communication(URLLC) services. A base station (BS), such as a BS 110 a in thewireless communication network 100 may schedule physical downlink sharedchannel (PDSCH) transmission to a user equipment (UE), such as a UE 120a in the wireless communication network 100. The BS 110 may preempt thescheduled PDSCH with another PDSCH. For example, the BS 110 a mayschedule an eMBB PDSCH transmission to the UE 120 a in a slot, then theBS 110 a may transmit a URLLC PDSCH, to the UE 120 a or to another UE120 in one more symbols of the slot scheduled for the eMBB PDSCH, theURLCC PDSCH preempting the eMBB PDSCH. The BS 110 a may send the UE 120a a downlink preemption indictor (DLPI) indicating the preemptedresources. The BS 110 a may ensure that the UE 120 a can process thePDSCH taking into account the preempted resources. For example, the BS110 a determines a feedback timing indicator associated with thescheduled PDSCH. As shown in FIG. 1, the BS 110 a has a module fordetermining a sufficient k1 value. The BS 110 a may determine thefeedback timing indicator based on the number of slots between thescheduled PDSCH and the DLPI and on the minimum processing timeassociated with the UE. The BS 110 a includes the feedback timingindicator in the downlink control information (DCI) scheduling thePDSCH. The UE 120 a can determine how to process the PDSCH based on thefeedback timing indicator. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the UE 120 ahas a module for determining how to process PDSCH based on a k1 value,according to aspects described herein.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the wireless communication network 100 mayinclude a number of base stations (BSs) 110 and other network entities.ABS may be a station that communicates with user equipments (UEs). EachBS 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographicarea. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to a coverage area of a Node B(NB) and/or a NB subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on thecontext in which the term is used. In NR systems, the term “cell” andnext generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), NR BS, 5G NB, access point (AP),or transmission reception point (TRP) may be interchangeable. In someexamples, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographicarea of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile BS. Insome examples, the base stations may be interconnected to one anotherand/or to one or more other base stations or network nodes (not shown)in wireless communication network 100 through various types of backhaulinterfaces, such as a direct physical connection, a wireless connection,a virtual network, or the like using any suitable transport network.

In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a givengeographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular radioaccess technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. ARAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface,etc. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a subcarrier, afrequency channel, a tone, a subband, etc. Each frequency may support asingle RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoid interferencebetween wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RATnetworks may be deployed.

A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, afemto cell, and/or other types of cells. A macro cell may cover arelatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius)and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. Apico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allowunrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell maycover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allowrestricted access by UEs having an association with the femto cell(e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in thehome, etc.). ABS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BSfor a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cellmay be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In the example shown inFIG. 1, the BSs 110 a, 110 b and 110 c may be macro BSs for the macrocells 102 a, 102 b and 102 c, respectively. The BS 110 x may be a picoBS for a pico cell 102 x. The BSs 110 y and 110 z may be femto BSs forthe femto cells 102 y and 102 z, respectively. A BS may support one ormultiple (e.g., three) cells.

Wireless communication network 100 may also include relay stations. Arelay station is a station that receives a transmission of data and/orother information from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) andsends a transmission of the data and/or other information to adownstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS). A relay station may also be aUE that relays transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown in FIG.1, a relay station 110 r may communicate with the BS 110 a and a UE 120r in order to facilitate communication between the BS 110 a and the UE120 r. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay,etc.

Wireless communication network 100 may be a heterogeneous network thatincludes BSs of different types, e.g., macro BS, pico BS, femto BS,relays, etc. These different types of BSs may have different transmitpower levels, different coverage areas, and different impact oninterference in the wireless communication network 100. For example,macro BS may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 20 Watts) whereaspico BS, femto BS, and relays may have a lower transmit power level(e.g., 1 Watt).

Wireless communication network 100 may support synchronous orasynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the BSs may havesimilar frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs may beapproximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the BSs mayhave different frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs maynot be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used forboth synchronous and asynchronous operation.

A network controller 130 may couple to a set of BSs and providecoordination and control for these BSs. The network controller 130 maycommunicate with the BSs 110 via a backhaul. The BSs 110 may alsocommunicate with one another (e.g., directly or indirectly) via wirelessor wireline backhaul.

The UEs 120 (e.g., 120 x, 120 y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout thewireless communication network 100, and each UE may be stationary ormobile. A UE may also be referred to as a mobile station, a terminal, anaccess terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, a Customer PremisesEquipment (CPE), a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, ahandheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless localloop (WLL) station, a tablet computer, a camera, a gaming device, anetbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, an appliance, a medical device ormedical equipment, a biometric sensor/device, a wearable device such asa smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, a smart wrist band, smartjewelry (e.g., a smart ring, a smart bracelet, etc.), an entertainmentdevice (e.g., a music device, a video device, a satellite radio, etc.),a vehicular component or sensor, a smart meter/sensor, industrialmanufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or anyother suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wirelessor wired medium. Some UEs may be considered machine-type communication(MTC) devices or evolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include,for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors,location tags, etc., that may communicate with a BS, another device(e.g., remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node mayprovide, for example, connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a widearea network such as Internet or a cellular network) via a wired orwireless communication link. Some UEs may be consideredInternet-of-Things (IoT) devices, which may be narrowband IoT (NB-IoT)devices.

Certain wireless networks (e.g., LTE) utilize orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrierfrequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDMpartition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers,which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarriermay be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent inthe frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. Thespacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total numberof subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system bandwidth. Forexample, the spacing of the subcarriers may be 15 kHz and the minimumresource allocation (called a “resource block” (RB)) may be 12subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal Fast FourierTransfer (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024 or 2048 forsystem bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz),respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned intosubbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resourceblocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for systembandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 MHz, respectively.

While aspects of the examples described herein may be associated withLTE technologies, aspects of the present disclosure may be applicablewith other wireless communications systems, such as NR. NR may utilizeOFDM with a CP on the uplink and downlink and include support forhalf-duplex operation using TDD. Beamforming may be supported and beamdirection may be dynamically configured. MIMO transmissions withprecoding may also be supported. MIMO configurations in the DL maysupport up to 8 transmit antennas with multi-layer DL transmissions upto 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. Multi-layer transmissions withup to 2 streams per UE may be supported. Aggregation of multiple cellsmay be supported with up to 8 serving cells.

In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled. Ascheduling entity (e.g., a BS) allocates resources for communicationamong some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell.The scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning,reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinateentities. That is, for scheduled communication, subordinate entitiesutilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity. Base stations arenot the only entities that may function as a scheduling entity. In someexamples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity and may scheduleresources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more otherUEs), and the other UEs may utilize the resources scheduled by the UEfor wireless communication. In some examples, a UE may function as ascheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, and/or in a meshnetwork. In a mesh network example, UEs may communicate directly withone another in addition to communicating with a scheduling entity.

In FIG. 1, a solid line with double arrows indicates desiredtransmissions between a UE and a serving BS, which is a BS designated toserve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink. A finely dashed line withdouble arrows indicates interfering transmissions between a UE and a BS.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example architecture of a distributed Radio AccessNetwork (RAN) 200, which may be implemented in the wirelesscommunication network 100 illustrated in FIG. 1.2, the distributed RANincludes Core Network (CN) 202 and Access Node 208.

The CN 202 may host core network functions. CN 202 may be centrallydeployed. CN 202 functionality may be offloaded (e.g., to advancedwireless services (AWS)), in an effort to handle peak capacity. The CN202 may include the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 204and User Plane Function (UPF) 206. The AMF 204 and UPF 206 may performone or more of the core network functions.

The AN 208 may communicate with the CN 202 (e.g., via a backhaulinterface). The AN 208 may communicate with the AMF 204 via an N2 (e.g.,NG-C) interface. The AN 208 may communicate with the UPF 206 via an N3(e.g., NG-U) interface. The AN 208 may include a central unit-controlplane (CU-CP) 210, one or more central unit-user plane (CU-UPs) 212, oneor more distributed units (DUs) 214-218, and one or more Antenna/RemoteRadio Units (AU/RRUs) 220-224. The CUs and DUs may also be referred toas gNB-CU and gNB-DU, respectively. One or more components of the AN 208may be implemented in a gNB 226. The AN 208 may communicate with one ormore neighboring gNBs.

The CU-CP 210 may be connected to one or more of the DUs 214-218. TheCU-CP 210 and DUs 214-218 may be connected via a F1-C interface2, theCU-CP 210 may be connected to multiple DUs, but the DUs may be connectedto only one CU-CP. Although FIG. 2 only illustrates one CU-UP 212, theAN 208 may include multiple CU-UPs. The CU-CP 210 selects theappropriate CU-UP(s) for requested services (e.g., for a UE). TheCU-UP(s) 212 may be connected to the CU-CP 210. For example, theDU-UP(s) 212 and the CU-CP 210 may be connected via an El interface. TheCU-CP(s) 212 may be connected to one or more of the DUs 214-218. TheCU-UP(s) 212 and DUs 214-218 may be connected via a Fl-U interface2, theCU-CP 210 may be connected to multiple CU-UPs, but the CU-UPs may beconnected to only one CU-CP.

A DU, such as DUs 214, 216, and/or 218, may host one or more TRP(s)(transmit/receive points, which may include an Edge Node (EN), an EdgeUnit (EU), a Radio Head (RH), a Smart Radio Head (SRH), or the like). ADU may be located at edges of the network with radio frequency (RF)functionality. A DU may be connected to multiple CU-UPs that areconnected to (e.g., under the control of) the same CU-CP (e.g., for RANsharing, radio as a service (RaaS), and service specific deployments).DUs may be configured to individually (e.g., dynamic selection) orjointly (e.g., joint transmission) serve traffic to a UE. Each DU214-216 may be connected with one of AU/RRUs 220-224.

The CU-CP 210 may be connected to multiple DU(s) that are connected to(e.g., under control of) the same CU-UP 212. Connectivity between aCU-UP 212 and a DU may be established by the CU-CP 210. For example, theconnectivity between the CU-UP 212 and a DU may be established usingBearer Context Management functions. Data forwarding between CU-UP(s)212 may be via a Xn-U interface.

The distributed RAN 200 may support fronthauling solutions acrossdifferent deployment types. For example, the RAN 200 architecture may bebased on transmit network capabilities (e.g., bandwidth, latency, and/orjitter). The distributed RAN 200 may share features and/or componentswith LTE. For example, AN 208 may support dual connectivity with NR andmay share a common fronthaul for LTE and NR. The distributed RAN 200 mayenable cooperation between and among DUs 214-218, for example, via theCU-CP 212. An inter-DU interface may not be used.

Logical functions may be dynamically distributed in the distributed RAN200. As will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3, theRadio Resource Control (RRC) layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol(PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Medium Access Control(MAC) layer, Physical (PHY) layers, and/or Radio Frequency (RF) layersmay be adaptably placed, in the AN and/or UE.

FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram showing examples for implementing acommunications protocol stack 300 in a RAN (e.g., such as the RAN 200),according to aspects of the present disclosure. The illustratedcommunications protocol stack 300 may be implemented by devicesoperating in a wireless communication system, such as a 5G NR system(e.g., the wireless communication network 100). In various examples, thelayers of the protocol stack 300 may be implemented as separate modulesof software, portions of a processor or ASIC, portions of non-collocateddevices connected by a communications link, or various combinationsthereof. Collocated and non-collocated implementations may be used, forexample, in a protocol stack for a network access device or a UE3, thesystem may support various services over one or more protocols. One ormore protocol layers of the protocol stack 300 may be implemented by theAN and/or the UE.

As shown in FIG. 3, the protocol stack 300 is split in the AN (e.g., AN208 in FIG. 2). The RRC layer 305, PDCP layer 310, RLC layer 315, MAClayer 320, PHY layer 325, and RF layer 530 may be implemented by the AN.For example, the CU-CP (e.g., CU-CP 210 in FIG. 2) and the CU-UP e.g.,CU-UP 212 in FIG. 2) each may implement the RRC layer 305 and the PDCPlayer 310. A DU (e.g., DUs 214-218 in 2) may implement the RLC layer 315and MAC layer 320. The AU/RRU (e.g., AU/RRUs 220-224 in FIG. 2) mayimplement the PHY layer(s) 325 and the RF layer(s) 330. The PHY layers325 may include a high PHY layer and a low PHY layer.

The UE may implement the entire protocol stack 300 (e.g., the RRC layer305, the PDCP layer 310, the RLC layer 315, the MAC layer 320, the PHYlayer(s) 325, and the RF layer(s) 330).

FIG. 4 illustrates example components of BS 110 and UE 120 (as depictedin FIG. 1), which may be used to implement aspects of the presentdisclosure. For example, antennas 452, processors 466, 458, 464, and/orcontroller/processor 480 of the UE 120 and/or antennas 434, processors420, 430, 438, and/or controller/processor 440 of the BS 110 may be usedto perform the various techniques and methods described herein. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 4, the processor 440 has a module fordetermining a sufficient k1 value, according to aspects describedherein. As another example, as shown in FIG. 4, the processor 480 has amodule for determining how to process PDSCH based on a k1 value,according to aspects described herein.

At the BS 110, a transmit processor 420 may receive data from a datasource 412 and control information from a controller/processor 440. Thecontrol information may be for the physical broadcast channel (PBCH),physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), physical hybrid ARQindicator channel (PHICH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH),group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. The data may be for the physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH), etc. The processor 420 may process(e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtaindata symbols and control symbols, respectively. The processor 420 mayalso generate reference symbols, e.g., for the primary synchronizationsignal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and cell-specificreference signal (CRS). A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) processor 430 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) onthe data symbols, the control symbols, and/or the reference symbols, ifapplicable, and may provide output symbol streams to the modulators(MODs) 432 a through 432 t. Each modulator 432 may process a respectiveoutput symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output samplestream. Each modulator may further process (e.g., convert to analog,amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain adownlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 432 a through 432 tmay be transmitted via the antennas 434 a through 434t, respectively.

At the UE 120, the antennas 452 a through 452 r may receive the downlinksignals from the base station 110 and may provide received signals tothe demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 454 a through 454 r,respectively. Each demodulator 454 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify,downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain inputsamples. Each demodulator may further process the input samples (e.g.,for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 456 mayobtain received symbols from all the demodulators 454 a through 454 r,perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, andprovide detected symbols. A receive processor 458 may process (e.g.,demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, providedecoded data for the UE 120 to a data sink 460, and provide decodedcontrol information to a controller/processor 480.

On the uplink, at UE 120, a transmit processor 464 may receive andprocess data (e.g., for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) froma data source 462 and control information (e.g., for the physical uplinkcontrol channel (PUCCH) from the controller/processor 480. The transmitprocessor 464 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal(e.g., for the sounding reference signal (SRS)). The symbols from thetransmit processor 464 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 466 ifapplicable, further processed by the demodulators in transceivers 454 athrough 454 r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the basestation 110. At the BS 110, the uplink signals from the UE 120 may bereceived by the antennas 434, processed by the modulators 432, detectedby a MIMO detector 436 if applicable, and further processed by a receiveprocessor 438 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by theUE 120. The receive processor 438 may provide the decoded data to a datasink 439 and the decoded control information to the controller/processor440.

The controllers/processors 440 and 480 may direct the operation at theBS 110 and the UE 120, respectively. The processor 440 and/or otherprocessors and modules at the BS 110 may perform or direct the executionof processes for the techniques described herein. The memories 442 and482 may store data and program codes for BS 110 and UE 120,respectively. A scheduler 444 may schedule UEs for data transmission onthe downlink and/or uplink.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example system architecture 500 for interworkingbetween 5GS (e.g., such as the distributed RAN 200) and E-UTRAN-EPC, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG. 5, the UE 502 may be served by separate RANs 504A and 504Bcontrolled by separate core networks 506A and 506B, where the RAN 504Aprovides E-UTRA services and RAN 504B provides 5G NR services. The UEmay operate under only one RAN/CN or both RANs/CNs at a time.

In LTE, the basic transmission time interval (TTI) or packet duration isthe 1 ms subframe. In NR, a subframe is still 1 ms, but the basic TTI isreferred to as a slot. A subframe contains a variable number of slots(e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, . . . slots) depending on the subcarrier spacing.The NR RB is 12 consecutive frequency subcarriers. NR may support a basesubcarrier spacing of 15 KHz and other subcarrier spacing may be definedwith respect to the base subcarrier spacing, for example, 30 kHz, 60kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, etc. The symbol and slot lengths scale with thesubcarrier spacing. The CP length also depends on the subcarrierspacing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a frame format 600 for NR. Thetransmission timeline for each of the downlink and uplink may bepartitioned into units of radio frames. Each radio frame may have apredetermined duration (e.g., 10 ms) and may be partitioned into 10subframes, each of 1 ms, with indices of 0 through 9. Each subframe mayinclude a variable number of slots depending on the subcarrier spacing.Each slot may include a variable number of symbol periods (e.g., 7 or 14symbols) depending on the subcarrier spacing. The symbol periods in eachslot may be assigned indices. A mini-slot, which may be referred to as asub-slot structure, refers to a transmit time interval having a durationless than a slot (e.g., 2, 3, or 4 symbols). Each symbol in a slot mayindicate a link direction (e.g., DL, UL, or flexible) for datatransmission and the link direction for each subframe may be dynamicallyswitched. The link directions may be based on the slot format. Each slotmay include DL/UL data as well as DL/UL control information.

In NR, a synchronization signal (SS) block is transmitted. The SS blockincludes a PSS, a SSS, and a two symbol PBCH. The SS block can betransmitted in a fixed slot location, such as the symbols 0-3 as shownin FIG. 6. The PSS and SSS may be used by UEs for cell search andacquisition. The PSS may provide half-frame timing, the SS may providethe CP length and frame timing. The PSS and SSS may provide the cellidentity. The PBCH carries some basic system information, such asdownlink system bandwidth, timing information within radio frame, SSburst set periodicity, system frame number, etc. The SS blocks may beorganized into SS bursts to support beam sweeping. Further systeminformation such as, remaining minimum system information (RMSI), systeminformation blocks (SIBs), other system information (OSI) can betransmitted on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in certainsubframes. The SS block can be transmitted up to sixty-four times, forexample, with up to sixty-four different beam directions for mmW. The upto sixty-four transmissions of the SS block are referred to as the SSburst set. SS blocks in an SS burst set are transmitted in the samefrequency region, while SS blocks in different SS bursts sets can betransmitted at different frequency locations.

In some circumstances, two or more subordinate entities (e.g., UEs) maycommunicate with each other using sidelink signals. Real-worldapplications of such sidelink communications may include public safety,proximity services, UE-to-network relaying, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)communications, Internet of Everything (IoE) communications, IoTcommunications, mission-critical mesh, and/or various other suitableapplications. Generally, a sidelink signal may refer to a signalcommunicated from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE1) to anothersubordinate entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying that communicationthrough the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS), even though thescheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling and/or controlpurposes. In some examples, the sidelink signals may be communicatedusing a licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks, whichtypically use an unlicensed spectrum).

A UE may operate in various radio resource configurations, including aconfiguration associated with transmitting pilots using a dedicated setof resources (e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) dedicated state,etc.) or a configuration associated with transmitting pilots using acommon set of resources (e.g., an RRC common state, etc.). Whenoperating in the RRC dedicated state, the UE may select a dedicated setof resources for transmitting a pilot signal to a network. Whenoperating in the RRC common state, the UE may select a common set ofresources for transmitting a pilot signal to the network. In eithercase, a pilot signal transmitted by the UE may be received by one ormore network access devices, such as an AN, or a DU, or portionsthereof. Each receiving network access device may be configured toreceive and measure pilot signals transmitted on the common set ofresources, and also receive and measure pilot signals transmitted ondedicated sets of resources allocated to the UEs for which the networkaccess device is a member of a monitoring set of network access devicesfor the UE. One or more of the receiving network access devices, or a CUto which receiving network access device(s) transmit the measurements ofthe pilot signals, may use the measurements to identify serving cellsfor the UEs, or to initiate a change of serving cell for one or more ofthe UEs.

Example PDSCH Processing In Presence of DLPI

In certain wireless communication systems, a base station (BS) schedulestransmissions to a user equipment (UE) by sending the UE a downlinkgrant. In some examples, as shown in FIG. 7, a next generation Node B(gNB) sends a downlink grant to a UE scheduling the UE for a physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission (e.g., PDSCH 1 in FIG. 7).The BS may send the downlink grant in downlink control information (DCI)for each scheduled PDSCH. In some examples, the DCI is a fallback DCI(e.g., DCI format 1_0) or a regular DCI (e.g., DCI format 1_1). The BSsends a feedback timing indicator in the DCI. For example, the BS sendsa 3-bit PDSCH-to-HARQ (hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedbacktiming indicator, referred to as the k1 value. The k1 value may indicatea slot for the UE to provide HARQ acknowledgment (ACK) or negative ACK(NACK) information for the PDSCH transmission. Thus, the k1 defines theprocessing time for the UE to decode the PDSCH transmission and preparethe ACK/NACK transmission. In some examples, the k1 value indicates anumber of slots from the end of the PDSCH transmission to the time atwhich the UE sends the ACK/NACK to the BS. The k1 values may take valuesof {1, 2, 3 . . . 8}. As shown in FIG. 7, the gNB sends a k1 value oftwo slots for PDSCH 1 and the UE sends the ACK/NACK feedback for thePDSCH 1 two slots after the end of the PDSCH 1 transmission.

In certain systems, such as NR (new radio or 5G) systems, a scheduledPDSCH transmission may be preempted by another PDSCH transmission. Forexample, NR supports a variety of services including enhanced mobilebroadband (eMBB) service and ultra-reliable low-latency communications(URLLC) service. An eMBB PDSCH transmission may be preempted by a URLLCPDSCH transmission. The BS may send a downlink preemption indication(DLPI) to indicate the preempted resources. For example, as shown inFIG. 8, when both URLLC and eMBB traffic are present, the gNB sends aDLPI to eMBB UEs (the preempted UE), indicating the time/frequency PDSCHresources that are preempted by URLLC transmissions. The DLPI may besent at a periodicity of every n slots. The DLPI may indicate thepreempted resources in the last n slots. In some examples, theperiodicity may take values of n=1, 2, or 4.

The eMBB UE can improve decoding performance by taking the DLPI (e.g.,the indicated preempted resources) into account. However, as shown inFIG. 9, if the eMBB UE starts the PDSCH decoding after DLPI is received(e.g., in order to take the DLPI into account in the decoding), theremay be insufficient time to finish the UE-side processing (e.g., thePDSCH decoding and ACK/NACK preparation) before the k1 timing signaledby gNB, i.e., before the slot in which the UE needs to send the ACK/NACKinformation. Therefore, techniques for PDSCH transmission processing inthe presence of the DLPI are desirable.

Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus,methods, processing systems, and computer readable mediums for PDSCHprocessing in presence of DLPI.

In some examples, the BS may ensure that a sufficiently large k1 valueis signaled from the gNB to UE to ensure that the DLPI can beincorporated into PDSCH decoding with time to send the HARQ feedback forthe PDSCH transmission within the k1 timing.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram showing example operations 1000 for wirelesscommunications, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure. The operations 1000 may be performed by a BS, such as a BS110 in the wireless communication network 100. Operations 1000 may beimplemented as software components that are executed and run on one ormore processors (e.g., processor 440 of FIG. 4). Further, thetransmission and reception of signals by the BS in operations 1000 maybe enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antennas 434 ofFIG. 4). In certain aspects, the transmission and/or reception ofsignals by the BS may be implemented via a bus interface of one or moreprocessors (e.g., processor 440) obtaining and/or outputting signals.

The operations 1000 begin, at 1002, by determining a feedback timingindicator (e.g., the k1 value) associated with a PDSCH transmission(e.g., an eMBB PDSCH) to a UE in a first slot. In some examples, thedetermination is based on a first number of slots from the first slotuntil transmission of a DLPI to the UE in a second slot and a secondnumber slots for a minimum processing time associated with the UE. Theminimum processing time associated with the UE may be the number ofslots for the UE to decode the scheduled PDSCH transmission and preparethe HARQ feedback for the scheduled PDSCH transmission. The BSdetermines the second slot in which the DLPI is transmitted based on theperiodicity n associated with the DLPI.

In some examples, the BS selects a feedback timing indicator that isequal to or greater than a sum of the first number of slots and thesecond number of slots. As shown in FIG. 11, in the example of n=4 DLPIperiodicity, the gNB schedules eMBB PDSCH 2 in the second of the 4 slotsand preempts with a URLLC PDSCH in that slot. The first number of slots,the number of slots from the end of the PDSCH transmission (e.g., theend PDSCH 2 in the example in FIG. 11) to the DLPI (2 slots in FIG. 11)may be referred to as the delta_t. The second number of slots for theminimum processing time for the UE to process the PDSCH transmission(e.g., PDSCH 2 in the example shown in FIG. 11) may be referred to asthe k1_min. The minimum processing time may be a UE-specific amount thatis based on UE capability. In order to ensure that the UE can processthe PDSCH transmission and also take into account the DLPI, the gNB maysend a timing feedback indicator value 11 that is equal to or greaterthan the sum delta_t+k1_min, as shown in FIG. 11.

At 1004, the BS sends DCI to the UE scheduling the PDSCH transmission tothe UE in the first slot. The DCI includes the feedback timing indicator(e.g., the k1 value). The feedback timing indicator indicates a numberof slots after the scheduled PDSCH transmission for the UE to send HARQfeedback (e.g., ACK/NACK) for the scheduled PDSCH transmission.

The BS may then send the scheduled PDSCH (e.g., the eMBB PDSCH) in theslot and the other PDSCH (to the UE or another UE) on the preemptedresources in the slot of the scheduled PDSCH. The BS may send the DLPI,indicating the preempted resources by the other PDSCH (e.g., by a URLLCPDSCH). The BS may receive ACK/NACK feedback from the UE for the PDSCHbased on the feedback timing indicator.

In some examples, when the DLPI is received in the same slot as thepreempted resources (e.g., for n=1 DLPI periodicity), then the UE cantake the DLPI into account during the decoding of the PDSCHtransmission. When n>1, then the UE may or may not take the DLPI intoaccount. When the UE receives a feedback timing indicator that issufficiently large (e.g., k1≥delta_t+k1_min), then the UE may take theDLPI into account for the decoding. For example, the UE buffers thePDSCH transmission and waits until the DLPI is received to process thePDSCH transmission. In some examples, when the k1 is not sufficientlylarge (e.g., k1≤delta_t+k1_min), the UE may declare an error case. Insome examples, when the k1 is not sufficiently large, the UE can proceedwith regular decoding and is not expected to take DLPI into account.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram showing example operations 1200 for wirelesscommunications, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure. Operations 1200 may be performed, for example, by a UE suchas a UE 120 in the wireless communications network 100. The operations1200 may be complimentary operations by the UE to the operations 1000performed by the BS. Operations 1200 may be implemented as softwarecomponents that are executed and run on one or more processors (e.g.,processor 480 of FIG. 4). Further, the transmission and reception ofsignals by the UE in operations 1200 may be enabled, for example, by oneor more antennas (e.g., antennas 452 of FIG. 4). In certain aspects, thetransmission and/or reception of signals by the UE may be implementedvia a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., processor 480)obtaining and/or outputting signals.

The operations 1200 may begin, at 1202, by receiving DCI scheduling aPDSCH transmission (e.g., an eMBB PDSCH) in a first slot. The DCIincludes a feedback timing indicator (e.g., a k1 value) associated withthe scheduled PDSCH transmission. At 1204, the UE receives the PDSCHtransmission in the first slot. At 1206, the UE determines how toprocess the PDSCH transmission based on the feedback timing indicator.At 1208, the UE processes the PDSCH transmission based on thedetermination.

For example, the UE determines whether to begin processing the PDSCHtransmission immediately after the PDSCH transmission isreceived—without waiting for, and without taking into account DLPI,determine buffer the PDSCH transmission and wait for and take intoaccount DLPI to begin processing the PDSCH transmission and account forpreempted resources in the decoding, or may declare an error case. TheUE may determine how to process the PDSCH based on a first number ofslots from the first slot until a second slot in which DLPI istransmitted (e.g., the delta_t) and a second number slots for a minimumprocessing time associated with the UE (e.g., the k1_min).

As shown in the example call flows 1300, 1400, and 1500 in FIGS. 13-15,respectively, the BS 1304 schedules the UE 1302 for an eMBB PDSCH, at1306, and provides the k1 value for the eMBB PDSCH transmission. At1308, the BS 1304 sends the scheduled eMBB PDSCH transmission to the UE1302. At 1310, the UE 1302 determines if the k1 value is sufficient(e.g., equal to or larger than the sum of delta_t+1_min). As shown inFIG. 13, when the k1 value is sufficient the UE 1302 waits for the DLPI(e.g., buffers the PDSCH transmission) at 1312. At 1314, the UE 1302receives the DLPI from the BS 1304 and then, at 1316, the UE 1302processes the PDSCH transmission taking the DLPI into account. At 1318,based on the k1 timing, the UE sends the HARQ feedback for the PDSCHtransmission. As shown in FIG. 14, when the k1 value is insufficient(e.g., smaller than the sum of delta_t+k1_min) at 1412, the UE processesthe PDSCH transmission without waiting for the DLPI. After receiving theDLPI at 1414, the UE ignores the DPLI at 1416 and, at 1418, the UE sendsthe HARQ feedback for the PDSCH transmission based on the k1 timing).Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 15, when the k1 value is insufficient,the UE declares an error case at 1512.

FIG. 16 illustrates a communications device 1600 that may includevarious components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-functioncomponents) configured to perform operations for the techniquesdisclosed herein, such as the operations illustrated in FIG. 10. Thecommunications device 1600 includes a processing system 1602 coupled toa transceiver 1608. The transceiver 1608 is configured to transmit andreceive signals for the communications device 1600 via an antenna 1610,such as the various signals as described herein. The processing system1602 may be configured to perform processing functions for thecommunications device 1600, including processing signals received and/orto be transmitted by the communications device 1600.

The processing system 1602 includes a processor 1604 coupled to acomputer-readable medium/memory 1612 via a bus 1606. In certain aspects,the computer-readable medium/memory 1612 is configured to storeinstructions (e.g., computer executable code) that when executed by theprocessor 1604, cause the processor 1604 to perform the operationsillustrated in FIG. 10, or other operations for performing the varioustechniques discussed herein for PDSCH processing in presence of DLPI. Incertain aspects, computer-readable medium/memory 1612 stores code 1614for determining a feedback timing indicator, code 1616 for sending DCIscheduling a PDSCH transmission including the feedback timing indicator,and code 1618 for sending DLPI. In certain aspects, the processor 1004has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in thecomputer-readable medium/memory 1012. The processor 1004 includescircuitry 1620 for determining a feedback timing indicator, circuitry1622 for sending DCI scheduling a PDSCH transmission including thefeedback timing indicator, and circuitry 1624 for sending DLPI.

FIG. 17 illustrates a communications device 1700 that may includevarious components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-functioncomponents) configured to perform operations for the techniquesdisclosed herein, such as the operations illustrated in FIG. 12. Thecommunications device 1700 includes a processing system 1702 coupled toa transceiver 1708. The transceiver 1708 is configured to transmit andreceive signals for the communications device 1700 via an antenna 1710,such as the various signals as described herein. The processing system1702 may be configured to perform processing functions for thecommunications device 1700, including processing signals received and/orto be transmitted by the communications device 1700.

The processing system 1702 includes a processor 1704 coupled to acomputer-readable medium/memory 1712 via a bus 1706. In certain aspects,the computer-readable medium/memory 1712 is configured to storeinstructions (e.g., computer executable code) that when executed by theprocessor 1704, cause the processor 1704 to perform the operationsillustrated in FIG. 12, or other operations for performing the varioustechniques discussed herein for PDSCH processing in presence of DLPI. Incertain aspects, computer-readable medium/memory 1712 stores code 1714for receiving DCI scheduling a PUSCH transmission including the feedbacktiming indicator, code 1716 for receiving the PDSCH transmission; code1718 for determining how to process the PDSCH transmission based on thefeedback timing indicator; and code 1720 for processing the PDSCHtransmission based on the determination. In certain aspects, theprocessor 1704 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored inthe computer-readable medium/memory 1712. The processor 1704 includescircuitry 1722 for receiving DCI scheduling a PUSCH transmissionincluding the feedback timing indicator, circuitry 1724 for receivingthe PDSCH transmission; circuitry 1726 for determining how to processthe PDSCH transmission based on the feedback timing indicator; andcircuitry 1728 for processing the PDSCH transmission based on thedetermination.

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions forachieving the methods. The method steps and/or actions may beinterchanged with one another without departing from the scope of theclaims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions isspecified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may bemodified without departing from the scope of the claims.

As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of itemsrefers to any combination of those items, including single members. Asan example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c,a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples ofthe same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b,b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety ofactions. For example, “determining” may include calculating, computing,processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in atable, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like.Also, “determining” may include receiving (e.g., receiving information),accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also,“determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishingand the like.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. All structural andfunctional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects describedthroughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known tothose of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein byreference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover,nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the publicregardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in theclaims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase“means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recitedusing the phrase “step for.”

The various operations of methods described above may be performed byany suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions.The means may include various hardware and/or software component(s)and/or module(s), including, but not limited to a circuit, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally,where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations mayhave corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components withsimilar numbering.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits describedin connection with the present disclosure may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD),discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration maycomprise a processing system in a wireless node. The processing systemmay be implemented with a bus architecture. The bus may include anynumber of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system and the overall design constraints.The bus may link together various circuits including a processor,machine-readable media, and a bus interface. The bus interface may beused to connect a network adapter, among other things, to the processingsystem via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement thesignal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of a userterminal 120 (see FIG. 1), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display,mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus mayalso link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals,voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which arewell known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further.The processor may be implemented with one or more general-purpose and/orspecial-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors,microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry that can executesoftware. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implementthe described functionality for the processing system depending on theparticular application and the overall design constraints imposed on theoverall system.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmittedover as one or more instructions or code on a computer readable medium.Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, data, or anycombination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware,middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.Computer-readable media include both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. The processor may beresponsible for managing the bus and general processing, including theexecution of software modules stored on the machine-readable storagemedia. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to a processorsuch that the processor can read information from, and write informationto, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may beintegral to the processor. By way of example, the machine-readable mediamay include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data,and/or a computer readable storage medium with instructions storedthereon separate from the wireless node, all of which may be accessed bythe processor through the bus interface. Alternatively, or in addition,the machine-readable media, or any portion thereof, may be integratedinto the processor, such as the case may be with cache and/or generalregister files. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include,by way of example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (ReadOnly Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, opticaldisks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage medium, or anycombination thereof. The machine-readable media may be embodied in acomputer-program product.

A software module may comprise a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and may be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media.The computer-readable media may comprise a number of software modules.The software modules include instructions that, when executed by anapparatus such as a processor, cause the processing system to performvarious functions. The software modules may include a transmissionmodule and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in asingle storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices.By way of example, a software module may be loaded into RAM from a harddrive when a triggering event occurs. During execution of the softwaremodule, the processor may load some of the instructions into cache toincrease access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into ageneral register file for execution by the processor. When referring tothe functionality of a software module below, it will be understood thatsuch functionality is implemented by the processor when executinginstructions from that software module.

Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. Forexample, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or otherremote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared(IR), radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, andmicrowave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, asused herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray® disc where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Thus, in some aspects computer-readable media maycomprise non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media).In addition, for other aspects computer-readable media may comprisetransitory computer-readable media (e.g., a signal). Combinations of theabove should also be included within the scope of computer-readablemedia.

Thus, certain aspects may comprise a computer program product forperforming the operations presented herein. For example, such a computerprogram product may comprise a computer-readable medium havinginstructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions beingexecutable by one or more processors to perform the operations describedherein. For example, instructions for performing the operationsdescribed herein and illustrated in FIG. 10 and FIG. 12.

Further, it should be appreciated that modules and/or other appropriatemeans for performing the methods and techniques described herein can bedownloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and/or basestation as applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to aserver to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methodsdescribed herein. Alternatively, various methods described herein can beprovided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage mediumsuch as a compact disc (CD) or floppy disk, etc.), such that a userterminal and/or base station can obtain the various methods uponcoupling or providing the storage means to the device. Moreover, anyother suitable technique for providing the methods and techniquesdescribed herein to a device can be utilized.

It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the preciseconfiguration and components illustrated above. Various modifications,changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the methods and apparatus described above without departingfrom the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communications by a userequipment (UE), comprising: receiving downlink control information (DCI)scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission in afirst slot, the DCI including a feedback timing indicator associatedwith the PDSCH transmission; receiving the PDSCH transmission in thefirst slot; determining how to process the PDSCH transmission based onthe feedback timing indicator; and processing the PDSCH transmissionbased on the determination.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetermination is based on a first number of slots from the first slotuntil a second slot in which a downlink preemption indication (DLPI) istransmitted and a second number of slots for a minimum processing timeassociated with the UE.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein determininghow to process the PDSCH transmission comprises processing the PDSCHtransmission, after receiving the PDSCH transmission in the first slot,without accounting for the DLPI when the feedback timing indicator issmaller than a sum of the first number of slots and the second number ofslots.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining how to process thePDSCH transmission comprises declaring an error case when the feedbacktiming indicator is smaller than a sum of the first number of slots andthe second number of slots.
 5. The method of claim 2, whereindetermining how to process the PDSCH transmission comprises processingthe PDSCH transmission with accounting for the DLPI when the feedbacktiming indicator is equal to larger than a sum of the first number ofslots and the second number of slots.
 6. The method of claim 2, whereinthe minimum processing time associated with the UE comprises a number ofslots for the UE to decode the PDSCH transmission and prepare hybridautomatic repeat request (HARD) feedback for the PDSCH transmission. 7.The method of claim 2, further comprising determining the second slot inwhich the DLPI is transmitted based on a periodicity associated with theDLPI.
 8. The method of claim 2, wherein the DLPI indicates PDSCHresources in at least one of: the first slot or the first number ofslots that are preempted by another PDSCH transmission.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, wherein: the PDSCH transmission comprises an enhanced mobilebroadband (eMBB) PDSCH transmission; and the another PDSCH transmissioncomprises an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) PDSCHtransmission.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the feedback timingindicator indicates a number of slots after the scheduled PDSCHtransmission for the UE to send hybrid automatic repeat request (HARD)feedback for the scheduled PDSCH transmission.
 11. An apparatus forwireless communications, comprising: at least one processor configuredto: receive downlink control information (DCI) scheduling a physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission in a first slot, the DCIincluding a feedback timing indicator associated with the PDSCHtransmission; receive the PDSCH transmission in the first slot;determine how to process the PDSCH transmission based on the feedbacktiming indicator; and process the PDSCH transmission based on thedetermination; and a memory coupled with the at least one processor. 12.The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor isconfigured to determine how to process the PDSCH transmission based on afirst number of slots from the first slot until a second slot in which adownlink preemption indication (DLPI) is transmitted and a second numberof slots for a minimum processing time associated with the apparatus.13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor isconfigured to determine how to process the PDSCH transmission byprocessing the PDSCH transmission, after receiving the PDSCHtransmission in the first slot, without accounting for the DLPI when thefeedback timing indicator is smaller than a sum of the first number ofslots and the second number of slots.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12,wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine how toprocess the PDSCH transmission by declaring an error case when thefeedback timing indicator is smaller than a sum of the first number ofslots and the second number of slots.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12,wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine how toprocess the PDSCH transmission comprises processing the PDSCHtransmission with accounting for the DLPI when the feedback timingindicator is equal to larger than a sum of the first number of slots andthe second number of slots.
 16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein theminimum processing time associated with the apparatus comprises a numberof slots for the apparatus to decode the PDSCH transmission and preparehybrid automatic repeat request (HARD) feedback for the PDSCHtransmission.
 17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least oneprocessor is configured to determine the second slot in which the DLPIis transmitted based on a periodicity associated with the DLPI.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein the DLPI indicates PDSCH resources in atleast one of: the first slot or the first number of slots that arepreempted by another PDSCH transmission.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18,wherein: the PDSCH transmission comprises an enhanced mobile broadband(eMBB) PDSCH transmission; and the another PDSCH transmission comprisesan ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) PDSCH transmission.20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the feedback timing indicatorindicates a number of slots after the scheduled PDSCH transmission forthe apparatus to send hybrid automatic repeat request (HARD) feedbackfor the scheduled PDSCH transmission.
 21. An apparatus for wirelesscommunications, comprising: means for receiving downlink controlinformation (DCI) scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)transmission in a first slot, the DCI including a feedback timingindicator associated with the PDSCH transmission; means for receivingthe PDSCH transmission in the first slot; means for determining how toprocess the PDSCH transmission based on the feedback timing indicator;and means for processing the PDSCH transmission based on thedetermination.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the determinationis based on a first number of slots from the first slot until a secondslot in which a downlink preemption indication (DLPI) is transmitted anda second number of slots for a minimum processing time associated withthe apparatus.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein determining how toprocess the PDSCH transmission comprises processing the PDSCHtransmission, after receiving the PDSCH transmission in the first slot,without accounting for the DLPI when the feedback timing indicator issmaller than a sum of the first number of slots and the second number ofslots.
 24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein determining how to processthe PDSCH transmission comprises declaring an error case when thefeedback timing indicator is smaller than a sum of the first number ofslots and the second number of slots.
 25. The apparatus of claim 22,wherein determining how to process the PDSCH transmission comprisesprocessing the PDSCH transmission with accounting for the DLPI when thefeedback timing indicator is equal to larger than a sum of the firstnumber of slots and the second number of slots.
 26. A computer readablemedium having computer executable code stored thereon for wirelesscommunications, comprising: code for receiving downlink controlinformation (DCI) scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)transmission in a first slot, the DCI including a feedback timingindicator associated with the PDSCH transmission; code for receiving thePDSCH transmission in the first slot; code for determining how toprocess the PDSCH transmission based on the feedback timing indicator;and code for processing the PDSCH transmission based on thedetermination.
 27. The computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein thedetermination is based on a first number of slots from the first slotuntil a second slot in which a downlink preemption indication (DLPI) istransmitted and a second number of slots for a minimum processing timeassociated with the apparatus.
 28. The computer readable medium of claim27, wherein determining how to process the PDSCH transmission comprisesprocessing the PDSCH transmission, after receiving the PDSCHtransmission in the first slot, without accounting for the DLPI when thefeedback timing indicator is smaller than a sum of the first number ofslots and the second number of slots.
 29. The computer readable mediumof claim 27, wherein determining how to process the PDSCH transmissioncomprises declaring an error case when the feedback timing indicator issmaller than a sum of the first number of slots and the second number ofslots.
 30. The computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein determininghow to process the PDSCH transmission comprises processing the PDSCHtransmission with accounting for the DLPI when the feedback timingindicator is equal to larger than a sum of the first number of slots andthe second number of slots.